LETTERS FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Holidays are upon us and 2018 is wrapping up fast! While we were enjoying our Thanksgiving, the weakness in oil markets escalated with weakened sanctions on Iranian oil output and our strong domestic production. Fortunately, for East Texas, natural gas prices remain strong at over $4.60 per MCF and some of that strength is driven by strong exports, including strong LNG demand. Would any of us thought 10 years ago that the United States, led by Texas, would now be a world power in the export of petroleum and Natural Gas! While we can do little to influence short-term swings in energy markets, we can be encouraged that we now have global markets for both our oil and natural gas products. This of course means there will be a demand for our energy projects for many years to come. One of the greatest unconventional plays in the Gulf Coast is the Eagle Ford Shale and will be the focus of our next meeting.

This month’s luncheon will be on Wednesday December 19th, at 11:30 AM at the Cascades Golf and Country Club. Our talk is “In the age of Permian & MidCon Dominance, Can Eagle Ford Reign Supreme Again?” The authors are Richard Ball and Sean Kimiagar, their bios are available on our website. This is a play of great local interest so let’s have a great turnout like we did for Nick last month!

Just a reminder that ETGS will recognize our individual and corporate friends of the Society for 2019 on small table signs at our meetings beginning in January. Recognition will appear on our website as well. Annual individual gifts of greater than $25 and corporate gifts greater than $100 are recognized. Gifts given by yearend December 27, 2018 will be included in the initial recognition. Updates will occur on a quarterly basis after that. These annual tax-deductible gifts allow the Society to provide short courses at reasonable costs to our members and College scholarships to promising geology and geophysics students. A convenient donation link is available on our website. We welcome any thoughts and feedback on this effort or other ideas regarding speakers or events for the Society.